profender

We applied profender to our cat, according to the instructions with the drug, on April 20, 2008.
On May 15, 2008, she died of, according to the vet, “Strongly suspect aortic thromboembolism (ATE). No history of heart disease.”
Anybody have a similar experience? Is there any suspect relationship between profender and cats dead from aortic thromboembolism?

93 thoughts on “profender”

Supposedly, the chemicals that are contained in these products have been linked to heart problems and death. This has not happened to any of my animals. I had a flea collar on my dog when I took him to the vet. I was told to remove it along with the flea collars on all my other animals because they have had over 80 cases of flea collars/flea treatment (anything containing these certain chemicals) in which animals have died from heart related problems brought on by the product.

My healthy and happy 12 year old cat had 2 doses of Profender (he was 26 pounds) and 4 days later I had to put him down for heart disease. NO INFO ON SIDE EFFECTS was discussed. I no longer trust vets to do the right treatment.

We have three cats, and have been using Profender without fail…until Sadie received her latest application. It removed the hair where it was applied – immediately. Now her thighs & groin are naked and she’s developing bare patches here and there. Her nose is cold & wet, and she seems okay – but she does an inordinate amount of licking in that groin/thigh region. And our clinic says it must be something in the environment (yeah – the reintroduction of a specific toxic compound!!); they, of course, want to see her….

The fact that the cat was old and over weight could have contributed to the death. I think maybe they should screen the cat’s health before applying this medicine. It’s probably safer for younger and more for animals.

I was lucky. I put the flea & tick spray on my cats about two years ago (they were under a year at that point about 6 -10 months I believe)
I read the label then looked up side effects of prythrins and permethrin poisoining. So when 15 minutes later she started drooling thick clear drool, having muscle ticks and her pupils were dialated.
I didn’t have the money at the time for an ER visit (11pm) so I called a friend who said almost anything they would do I could do. I washed it off of her within 5 minutes of visible symptoms appearing. As soon as that was done, I got an eye dropper and forced it into her in large quanities and then got wet cat food which she loves and had her eat an entire can, then I continued giving her water. She looked better but I never went to bed that night I stayed with her in my bathroom so she would have to stay put. I now tell EVERYONE not to use Hartz. Some people don’t want to listen, now I have a website to direct them to.

I’m so sorry for your losses for those of you who lost pets. Hartz needs to get off the market.

It almost killed our 15 year old cat named “Yonder” years ago. It was the flea drops. She foamed at the mouth and started convulsions like. Ran around like a wild cat. We had to get this washed off her immediately. I wrote letter to Hartz Co. All they did was reimburse us for the product. We had been scratched and bitten ourself trying to get this stuff washed off the cat. She was tramatized, so were we. She is alive and better today. We still wonder if her being very, very sensitive to touch had anything to do with this product.

Now I am looking at a worming medicine called PROFENDER for 3 kinds of worms. Tapeworm, roundworm and one other. Has anyone used this before? Any side effects?

I DO NOT want to put this on my cats if it does like HARTZ. You can only get it from the vets. It’s also a liquid used like advantage.

Last summer 2 of my cats died, after we obtained Profender from our Vet and applied it to the back of their necks, as directed by the Vet. The next day they would not eat, walking became wobbly. We took them back to the vet every day for a week. He only gave them fluids for hydration. He said there was a problem with their pancreas. Within a week, my cats could not walk and died a very painful death. Needless to say, we changed Vets and will never use Profender again!

My vet used Profender on a 10 plus year old female cat several months ago and it made her extremely sick within about an hour. Had to take her to the emergency hospital at 11p.m. at night to find out what was wrong with her. She was drooling and having muscle spasms and didn’t know where she was. That little episode cost me upwards of $700. It took her a long time to get back to normal. Looked Profender up on the internet and they said that they had had only one cat in thousands get sick like that. Well, mine makes that two. I will never use it again and I told my vet so. He was going to check into it and see before he used it on any more cats.

Profender put a great big sore on my cats neck took back vets still have collar on as he seems to want to scratch constantly . Charged me 55 to see for what they reccommend he was really ill for over a week , I had to coax him to eat I am so dam mad !

i just applied profender on our outside cat and she started acting strange almost within the hour. she wouldn’t come when she was called, which she always does, she didn’t eat with the excitement that she normally did, she has had a hard time walking and it’s almost impossible for her to jump up on the counter now. she routinely jumps off and onto a privacy fence next to us. she is now starting to eat more regularly(it’s been 4 days since application), but she is still having trouble with walking. her gait is stiff and looks painful. the information that i can find online is almost all from bayer or other retail places that wish to sell the product. where are the agencies that are out there to protect our pets and not make money off them?

I brought my cat to the vet yesterday for rabies update and de-worming. I myself am very health concious and quite suspicious of the health industry- but it’s a little different with your pets because they can’t talk. I knew she had worms and it seemed like they made her uncomfortable. The vet applied PROFENDER and never any mention of potential side effects. Within an hour, she had thick clear drool, which I then called the vet- they told me to get her to eat a can of food. She took only a few bites. Which is very very unlike her normal behavior. Her bowls are abnormal-loose and stinky, which is understandable as she must now dispel not just the worms but also the poison medicine.
After reading the experience of others’ I will be keeping an even closer eye on her behavior. I did notice when she woke up this morning she stretched and seemed to loose her balance a bit. It’s so unfortunate that animal medications are not held to the somewhat lax standards that human medicines are. At least a disclaimer of side effects would be nice to know.

My thoughts are with all who have lost their dearly beloved companions- the best way to affect change is to stand up and be heard. Speak up to your vet, my lesson learned, I will specifically ask about side effects before this happens again.

I just put Profender on my cat last night & have not had any of the listed symptoms that others have listed. I think just like with people, everyone will have differant symptoms & reactions to meds. But then again, my cat is 27 lbs, as of Dec 6th, 2008.

I also just gave it to my cat, earlier today actually, and he’s not had any issues whatsoever from it. This is the second time I’ve gotten it for him because it worked so well last time and was so much less stressful for him and for me to apply a topical instead of three syringes full of yellow liquid orally for three days in a row. I’ve loved it so far… But reading everyone’s bad experiences has me a bit nervous of the long-term effects.

I’ve also applied Profender to my 10 year old female cat about 7 hours ago and she’s been just fine. Just like shelly above says, all animals will react differently to meds which means they aren’t necessarily bad just because an animal reacts negatively.

I have been using profender on all 4 of my cats, for over 3 years now, buying it out of country before it was even available here. I have never had any problems with it, although I have heard from friends who work with vets that you should never put flea medication (advantage, etc) on around the same time as the profender. A few feral cats have died when both were applied after being spayed/neutered.

I’m sorry to hear about all the side effects listed above. I would have been very upset if my 2 kittens (each slightly less than a year old) exhibited any of these signs/symptoms. I haven’t noticed a lack of energy or anything else out of the ordinary, though I *was* told that a 2nd application should be done 3 weeks after the 1st. Not sure why, since labeling information found on the web since 1 should do the trick…

Applied Profender to my cat last night. He is about 11 lbs. He acted anxious and hid, which he has NEVER done. I did give him some of his favorite food, so hopefully that helped. The area itched him terribly, but I am not sure I applied it correctly as some of it was on his fur. I find applying meds to the skin difficult for me as cats won’t sit still. I noticed a small tick this morning to his paw, but now he’s outside on his daily jaunt and seems fine. He did sleep much later than usual. I would say that he had an allergic reaction to Profender. Not great I guess, but having his vaccinati0ns was MUCH worse than this, and I’m not looking forward to taking him for his leukemia and 4in1 booster shots next month. Hopefully the benefits outweigh the side effects of taking care of our cats. My cat was a stray and needed someone to care for him.

went to vet with my two kittens today at 3PM. He used Profender for kittens,2.2lb-5.5lbs, so far no side effects, was told tape worms are not that lethal to cats, and that i should worry more about feline leuk. will be keeping my eyes open, should have read this site first, will update later. wow

My vet applied Profender yesterday on my 13 yo debilitated cat, on daily prednisone, no bad reaction but I wish I had seen this info first, not worth the risk, I pray my cat hangs in there and I empathize with those who have lost a pet…..i will be discussing this with my vet tomorrow.

With ANY medication, topical/oral/injectable/rectal/etc, you take a chance of having a negative reaction.

With Profender, it is a topical that is absorbed into the body. Therefore, you take a chance of it having a topical reaction, and an internal reaction. I personally have not used it on my cats, but we recently started carrying in in the vet hospital where I work. (The reason they say to re-treat in 3 weeks is due to the life-cycle of the parasites, and the stages in which they are more seceptable to be killed by the medication.)

I’m always skeptical of new pet products, and insist on doing research before ever using, as everyone should do. Make sure that you are aware of any possible side effects before giving any medications to your pet. That includes antibiotics and steroids that are regularly prescribed for treatment of hundreds of conditions.

With Hartz flea products, it is especially dangerous. It is a topical flea prevention, but unlike the preventions you purchase directly from your veterinarian, it is absorbed into the body. This absorption is what causes such hazardous side effects because it gets into the blood stream and is transported all through the body. I would NEVER recommend using Hartz topical flea prevention. To say that Hartz is bad overall though is kind of harsh. They do produce general shampoos, such as oatmeal and regular puppy shampoo, that work well and are affordable. They also produce products such as grooming tools and toys. Are they the BEST?? Not necessarily. But they are affordable, and therefore people buy them – People that most likely would not spend the money on a higher quality one anyway. Hartz in general is not bad – just they’re flea “prevention,” which actually does nothing in the way of preventing fleas. They do no work properly.

Flea preventions such as Frontline and Advantage work well for fleas, and are much safer because they are not absorbed into the body. They stay on the surface of the skin, and reside in the hair folicals, and thats how they last long amounts of time. Advantage is the same product that produce is treated with, and is harmless to mammals.

Also, These products you can use in dogs and cats that are 7weeks of age. Other over the counter flea products warn against using on pets under 10-12weeks of age.

Does it sometimes take more than one treatment to see full effects?? If you have a large infestation, YES. Is there always a chance that a pet could react? Like I stated before, there is ALWAYS a chance that some pet somewhere could react to any product. But these products have a much lower rate of reaction, and the reactions are no where near the severity.

Obviously you don’t want your pet to lick it off – its bitter and it will start salivating like crazy, but it won’t do it any harm. Once in a while a pet has a topical reaction and gets itchy or has irritation, and in that case, you wash it off using a mild shampoo.

Just be aware of what you are giving your pet, and don’t be afraid to ASK your veterinarian questions about the products they are prescribing, as it is their job as animal practitioners to educate their clients fully. A good doctor will have no problems answering your questions.

Tiffany, I have an 8 week old kitten We think-(she is a rescue from a tv station). Last week our vet had us treat her for tape worm oral with a milky liquid. Then two days ago use profender 2.2-5 lbs. she is acting fine, not sick still playing etc. however still having little worms come out and I can’t find any information on if that’s normal! HELP please!!! 😰

I put ProFender on my 4 year old cat today at 12PM. 3 hours later he exhibited signs of lethargy. 8 hours later he was having a lot of trouble breathing; it was very quick and labored. I took him to the emergency vet; and it seems he has heart failure. He has had a slight heart murmur all of his life, and I’m afraid that maybe he was especially susceptible to any side effects because of this. I had taken him to the vet 2 days before applying ProFender, and the vet said that if his heart murmur were to become a problem he would start to exhibit shortness of breath or coughing. He did not display any of these prior to applying ProFender. Furthermore, the vet still prescribed the ProFender even though he know of my cat’s heart condition and never mentioned any possible side effects of the drug. While I cannot positively conclude causality, I think it is more than a coincidence that a few hours after applying the topical synthetic drug to my cat’s skin, he started to experience health problems. If there is a risk of heart disease, they should make that known so that cats with already compromised health can avoid such risks! I may lose my cat because I didn’t know what the side effects might be and I blindly trusted my vet.

Mine never had any heart issues prior to being treated with ProFender. Had to be put down due to heart disease 4 days later. He was 26 pounds and they had given him a double dose even though he had not shown any worms, but another of my cats had.

My vet applied Profender to my cats. One of my cats got a lot more active and seemed to be losing too much weight too quickly. I mentioned this to the vet at the time. Now we have found out that she has an inflamed liver and jaundice. I have strong suspicions that this is due to the use of profender and will raise it again with my vet. If it is the case, then the effects may not be immediate and hard to detect. Has anyone else had similar problems?

I had a stray running around the neighborhood that I have been feeding but she wasn’t gaining any weight. The vet recommended Profender dewormer which I applied. The cat has been pulling chunks of her own hair out for three days now. Hopefully the Profender will get out of her system before she is completely bald, and/or before it kills the cat.

I think my 3 year old female cat had an adverse reaction to profender.

She is a 9.5 lb female and I treated her with a dose for cats 11-17.6 lbs. I had 4 adult cats to treat and didn’t have each cat weighed prior to application. I should have, but after the fact my vet said that shouldn’t matter anyway, as the profender had nothing to do with her symptoms.

I treated her late Friday night, then Sunday night around the same time she had an ‘episode’. I was sitting in my recliner, she jumped in my lap and started crying. My boyfriend jumped up and took her from my lap and placed her in the floor. She was still crying, she spread out on the carpet very flat like she could melt into the floor. She started panting and trembling. We tried to get her to stand and she would not. I called my emergency vet and prepared to take her in, then her symptoms stopped. I called a lady I know that works with a rescue org and asked her advice. She and her vet said if her symptoms had stopped I could check on her through the night and take her to my regular vet in the morning.

I thought it was odd that the other 3 adult cats I treated were fine, and that they seemed to have absorbed the profender and had no greasy mark at the application site. My sick kitty’s greasy mark spread down her back and seemingly had not absorbed. I thought during grooming she may have ingested some and could be poisoned.

At her Monday appointment, the vet said she didn’t think the profender and my cat’s condition were related. She called Bayer and they agreed. They said she had a fever that shouldn’t have been caused by the profender or her described symptoms. She listened to her heart and said she had a heart murmur that I was previously unaware of. She did an xray that showed that her heart appeared to be abormally shaped, as well as an abnormally shaped liver. She said it may be an absent murmur, causing no ill effects, or in the worst case cardiomyopathy. She referred my to an equine vet for an ultrasound which will occur Tuesday. She gave my cat an injection antibiotic, take home oral antibiotic and iv fluids since I had not observed her eat or drink since the onset of illness.

I am troubled by this because just this year in March my Baby (love of my life kitty) was diagnosed with cardiomyopathy. I had seen no warnings and woke one Sunday morning to her crying out in pain, paralyzed. I took her to the emergency vet, where they said she had no femoral pulse in her back feet and would likely not recover. I had her euthanized at the age of 7. They said if I’d caught it earlier then she may have been given therapies to prolong her life.

So, here I am with a sick kitty that as far as I can tell was fine Thursday, and now is not.

Also I’m troubled because the doctor giving the ultrasound tomorrow asked me to bring info from today’s visit. I left the vet without any paperwork this morning, so I stopped by to get her chart and a copy of my bill. The receptionist went back to ask the doctor, I heard her say I was here to get my bill, then she came out and said the vet was going to fax a note to the doctor giving the ultrasound tomorrow, and gave me the bill only. Am I not permitted to have a copy of the chart if I specifically asked for it? I’ve been given the charts on my other cats without asking.

Honestly, I’m not looking to file a lawsuit against any party. I spent hours today looking for adverse reactions to profender and only found this one site. I just want to put it out there so other pet parents could consider that there may be adverse reactions that they may not be aware of. I spotted roundworms in one juvenile cat’s stool (that was treated with oral Nemex) and only treated my 4 adult cats because they share litterboxes.

Basically the same thing happened here. I applied Profender on my cat and a few hours later she started showing signs of poisoning.. Clear drool, runny nose, muscular spasms and general confusion. She managed somehow to run away and it took us 2 days to get her home. It took 4 or 5 days before she got better. She slept a lot and still does. But now she has starting eating again at least. And she acts normal again. I will NEVER use Profender again and I curse myself for buying it in the first place 🙁

I’m confused. This is an anti-Hartz site (I am in agreement that Hartz topical products are very dangerous and should not be used) – but Profender is made by Bayer and only available by Rx. Are we talking about 2 different products?

I just gave Profender to my 2 year old cat because he had worms. He was absolutely fine after this. The application was a little to far down his neck because he was able to turn around and lick it. He immediately jumped off my lap and ran into the kitchen and started foaming at the mouth and acting irratic. This was about half an hour ago and he has been hiding from me and acting lethargic. I called my vet and was told that he should be fine, but if he worsened in any way, to bring him in. I’m just nervous now after reading this page.

I administered Profender De-worming medicine to my 10 lb. cat. I noticed she was restless and could not relax. During which she had muscle tremors. After a few hours she seemed to be able to relax. I am concerned about the tremors and wonder if this could have been related to heart palpulations.

I also noticed clumps of fur around the house (which is abnormal). Her stool contained large amounts of fur as well.

I believe that Profender caused the tremors (perhaps they were heart palpulations due to a reaction to the meds.

Please investigate any medications that you or your vet gives your pets. BEFORE you give them to your animals.

For whatever it is worth, I applied Profender to a total of five cats ranging in age from 2 to 9 and ranging in weight from 6 pounds to 15 (the 6 and 8 pound cat were given the smaller dosage recommended for that weight). Everyone is just fine.

My cat was given Profender and I asked what happens if he licks it, and was told he would be fine. 3 Hours later he started throwing up foaming at the mouth and not really wanting to move. I called the vet and they brough him in right away and had to give him some meds for the vomiting and kept him for obervation for a few hours. Thr drug company paid for this visit which i was surprised about. It is 3 days since the incident and he is now eating and drinking but not his normal self. The vet who is the best keeps calling and checking on him to see how things are going. Just hope he goes back to his hyper self again soon!

I studied parasitology in 1961 and sometime later I think I read about the risks of killing too many heartworms all at once.

They can release their hold on the heart wall en-mass and get caught in the valves and cause a sort of embolism (i.e. they become the embolus; aka clot) and restrict blood flow and cause what appears to be a typical infarction.

I put profender on both of my cats yesterday at 4pm. 1 was fine, but the other vomited twice within three minutes after application. I called my vet immediately and he said it sounded like an allergic reaction. If no other signs would come up within a couple hours, he said, she should be fine. 7 o clock passed(closing time vet) and she was acting normal, just annoyed with me putting that stuff in her neck that made her vomit and foam too. (she licked it) So I thought we were out of the woods.
Then her eyes started dilating and she started getting wobbly on her feet, she didnt know where she was. I monitored her and it progressed, so I decided to stay up with her and call the ER at 2.30. They told me to come in since it’s hard to judge for them. I decided to take care of her myself after reading one of the comments of someone here (I do not recommend it, but you are your own judge if you think you can handle it. I have been in this situation before and felt confident, but with the ER number and Address at hand in case of worsening): I forcefed her water with a seringe (make sure they swallow, you dont want liquids to go into their longs!) and i pulled anything out of the cupboard she would possibly eat. She ate: tuna, shrimp and her rugular food. She got a little overexcited with the shrimp and threw up again.(she rarely gets shrimp) And than kept eating again. I decided that the fact that she was eating and I was putting fluids into her and she was not trembeling, or becoming really lethargic or eyes rolling back, that I would wait for the morning. If any of the other signs would have occurred i would have taken her to ER. We didnt sleep, to make sure she was ok. At around 8 am in the morning I decided not to go to the vet, her eyes were normal again and her reaction too, just really tired from skipping the night.
I will not use this product on her again offcourse, but do not know what to think of the product in general…

My heart goes out to those who lost a kitty and I hope my story could help others make smart steps and decisions in this situation.

Used this Profender before on my older cats without a problem. Tonight I had to administer it to 11 month old female kitty and she instantly was hiding and foaming at the mouth (within 2 minutes). I caught her and washed off the medication from her and am monitoring her now. That’s how I came upon your website – I was searching for info quick about this product’s adverse reactions.
She seems to be recovering and the foaming has stopped. It was a scary reaction. I won’t ever put it on her again and will report to her vet (it’s midnight now so I won’t be doing that right away unless her symptoms return).

I also don’t understand how indoor cats can get these worms. I thought the method was through ingesting mice, birds, etc. that outside cats experience. Anyone have info about this? There is no doubt that my kitten has worms as I saw them myself in her bedding area as well as on her body before I used the Profender on her. She has always lived indoors.

If they get fleas tht can cause worms they don’t have to b outside to get either they can hitch ride on ur clothes when u wlk through. Grass an u not knw it or if ur at someones house who has pets with fleas

My vet applied Profender for the first time on my 4 year old “midnite” female cat. That was Friday. She immediately began to throw up within hours making terrible screams while it was happening. SUN: 7/4/10 took her at 7AM to ER vET – I KNWO SHE WAS POISONED …now it is wait and see- vet is giving her IV and other meds. to counteract poison – $1500.00 estimate bill…I love my cat . If she dies i will SUE PROFENDER /BAYER, the previous vet and anyone else responsible for the “PUSHING” of this new GREAT worming soloution.
DON’T USE IT! Pray for my cat’s recovery. I can’t handle it.
Barbara Snyder
Atwater, OHio

Thanks everyone for the insight. I am in Australia & many years ago used Felex Paste which I found the cats spat out more than swallowed, so for a long time now I have been using a pill called Drontal (may have different name in the US) which I have found to be a very reliable & safe product, except of course for the stress caused by having to administer the pill to my five cats, who are all getting on in years (all bar one are over ten years old). I came across the Profender & thought what a good idea it was but decided to do some research first. So glad I did as I would not dream of taking the risk now no matter how small it is. My old girl is 13 & I could not live with the fact that I may have killed her myself rather than go through giving her a tablet that I know will not hurt her.

There should be some sort of warning on the box, so that pet owners know they are taking a risk when they use this product.

Wow, am I glad to have found this site! I was investigating using (a flea/worm combo) Profender rather than the usual Advantage, but with all this anecdotal evidence of reactions and possible heart problems/death, I will DEFINITELY not use it! I too, have used the de-wormer Drontal and didn’t have any problems.

Advantage is less expensive through http://www.petsupplies.net. It’s out of Austrailia, so it takes about a month to get it to the US.

I have read all these comments about Profender with absolute amazement. I applied this product, which I obtained at my vets on her recommendation, to all four of my cats about six weeks ago for worms. None of them had any side effects and the worm sitings disappeared. I found this site just now because I was looking to buy this product cheaper than at my vets

My heaviest cat is displaying signs of worms again (running around the house and trying to lick her bottom because of the itching). I suspected the dose she received wasn’t strong enough because she weighs about 11 1/2 pounds and the vet gave me doses for cats under 11 pounds. Now I am afraid to use this product on her again even though she seems to have handled it okay a few weeks ago. I’m going to talk to my vet about it when I take them in within the next few days for their annual vacinations.

I would not be able to live with myself if I gave something to them (trying to help), and it actually harmed or even killed them.

My 18 week old was given Profender on 7/9/10 as part of a kitten care package. It was applied a bit off to the side where he could reach it with his tongue. He did not foam or vomit, but he did continue to lick it for the next several days. I did notice him being restless and not as loving, but he hadn’t been neutered yet and I thought it was because of this. Then the diarrhea slowly started, as well as a slight decrease in food and water intake. He was put on meds for the diarrhea. Because of the restless symptoms the vet went ahead with his neuter on 7/20/10. Three days later he was not eating or drinking at all and he was hiding under my bed. The vet took an xray then decided to do exploratory surgery. My kitten’s lymph nodes and intestines were swollen, inflamed, red and “angry” looking, but absolutely no clue as to what has caused this. He is home with me today as I write this, but I notice he is having tremors in all 4 legs while sleeping and he did not do this before.

$2600 later I do not know if it was the drug. But I would not have it administered ever again. I pray he makes it through this.

I’m also confused – Profender is a Bayer product available by prescription only, so why is it being discussed on this site? More importantly, why are there numerous comments on Hartz products in this thread where Profender isn’t even mentioned once? Strange.

My cat’s vet applied Profender during a visit four days ago. By the time we had gotten back home, only about a half hour later, my cat began vomitting, evacuating bowels and having diarrhia. The vomitting continued until he was producing bile and foam, and the diarhhia continued until he was producing only jelly-like mucus. He was panting uncontrollably to the point of appearing as though having a seizure. The exposed skin of his face (nose, gums and tounge, ears, eye-lids) all became red and swollen during this time. He began howling and crying and running around the house, alternately hiding and running out to either vomit or evacuate bowels. It was a terribly frigtening experience, and we were told that had we not immediately returned to the vet we would have lost him.

At the clinic, the area of application was immediately washed, he received an antidote (not sure what this was) and was put on a IV for several hours before we were able to take him back home.

I caution any pet owner from using Profender. It would have killed our cat had we not intervened. Please do not use this product and caution others to avoid it as well.

I had my male cat neutered and the Vet tested for worms and found that he had a tape worm the Vet gave him the worm med you are speaking of and now he is acting very lethargic, and out of it, we are trying to find a vet that will come in now, he has lost weight since getting neutered a couple weeks ago but all of the sudden today he started acting completely zoned and then extremely weak and lethargic

I have used Hartz flea drops and yesterday used profender for the first time with no problems. One of the most important things my vet said was to make sure it only got on the one spot on the back of the neck and watch them until it is dry so they don’t lick it. I wonder if some of the kitties that got sick ingested some. The other thing she said was to NOT put it on at the same time as flea drops. Sorry for those whose kitties got sick. I am a nurse and unfortunately, side effects are part of drug therapy. Some doctors don’t like to tell people the side effects even though they are often infrequent. Vets are no different.

I wish i had seen all of this sooner. My 10 pound cat had profender put on her today. it could have been the fact that she was allergic to it, or that the idiot vet tech didnt put it high enough on her neck. She licked the profender and when we came home, she was foaming and acting VERY unlike her. I dont think that it helped that she got her vaccines today ether. She is doing better now, but i will never use profender ever again, and demand my vet looks into it also. My thoughts go out to those who have lost a cat, and my hopes go out to those who get the chance to turn profender down.

A month ago I found a wee kitten dumped on our farm driveway. She wasn’t a ferile baby as it was easy to tell that she was used to being handled but the poor thing was emaciated and dehydrated and covered in fleas. She was a cute little think bouncing all over the place and smooching and my daughter had her named within 5 minutes. Oh great!!! Another cat 🙂

It was late at night so waited until the next morning to take her to my vet for a check up. Hazel was estimated to be approx. 6 weeks old. Vet found a puncture wound under her neck so administered an antibiotic plus Drontal for fleas and Profender for worms. She was a little dehydrated so I needed to give her plenty of fluids once I got her home. I noticed that evening that she was lethargic and wobbly on her feet so neing worried, kept her on the bed with me that night, much to the horror of the other cats.

By the next morning she couldn’t move and was in fact paralysed. I asked the vet if the combination of the Drontal and Profender may have been too much for an emaciated and dehydrated body so the vet rang the reps and they said that no, they had never had problems before. Well after a week on a drip and very little response apart from slight head movement (after a week), the vet recommended that she be put to sleep; they were stumped as to what had caused the total paralysis and there was nothing they could do for her. I couldn’t do it so took her home to nurse. I actually thought it was more the Drontal than Profender, to be completely honest but now I’m beginning to wonder if I was initially right and the combination was a factor. Four weeks later and after 24/7 care, wee Hazel is moving. She still has some paralysis on her right side but is learning to move her legs in conjunction with the left side which is making her a little stronger. She is really wobbly though and weak and only walks (stumbles) to get to her food or to use the litter tray. The vet believes she has some symptoms of neurological damage…apparently something she does with her head and the lean she has. She has since had another antibiotic shot last week so I know it’s not the antibiotic, amd I’m horrified to say this BUT…tonight I administered her second dose of Profender as I noticed she had worms. I actually googled the product to find out how long before the product takes effect and stumbled on this forum. She has not had any adverse symptoms…drooling etc. She pretty much lies all the time so no changes there. Will see how she is by morning and now I just blimmen hope like hell I am not starting right back at the beginning with her.

A few years ago my sister said her vet told her that simple rubbing alcohol kills fleas. After many years of using pyrethrin based flea shampoos and some topical neck flea treatments from the vet, I started giving my older cat water baths with rubbing alcohol. You can also comb a cat’s fur with a flea comb & just drop the fleas into a bowl of rubbing alcohol and watch the fleas die within seconds! This method requires a more frequent treatment of course, since rubbing alcohol doesn’t kill flea eggs. If you have carpet, you can also use a spray bottle to spray rubbing alcohol in a light layer over your carpet. Do this once every few days. It evaporates quickly & doesn’t damage the carpet, and it seemed to kill fleas that tried to crawl up from inside the carpet. It’s so much better than exposing your family and your pets to toxic pesticides!

I wish I had known this years ago, because my beloved cat eventually developed thyroid problems and a tumor in his lung. He later died of cancer which had spread to his abdomen. The biopsy showed a very aggressive cancer that had likely spread from pulmonary tissue. I will always wonder if the flea medicines caused his cancer.

My other cat, who is only 3 years younger than him, has rarely ever had a flea bath, she has short hair so it’s easier to comb her for fleas rather than having to use any medications. She is in near perfect health at age 12!
Also if your cat has worms, insist the vet give them the traditional pills rather than topical medications. I don’t think the topicals even killed my cat’s tapeworm at all.

See above that I readministered Profender to my wee kitten. All the progress made over the few weeks since her paralysis have been undone and we are now back to where we started. Since my post on the 27th, I woke the following morning to find that my wee girl was completely paralysed again. She went back to the vets and spent the week on a drip and has now been home a couple of days.
It’s so sad to see her just lying there all over again. She can move her back legs but lost full use of her front.

Well…now I know what caused the condition first time around…how bad do you think I feel putting her through this all over again? I’m gutted!!! but I seriously didn’t think it was the Profender that did this to begin with. I sooooo hope that she starts to get some feeling back soon; it was almost three weeks last time and even then her movement was limited 🙁

Thank you all for your honesty in sharing the truth about what Profender can or has done to your precious blessings from God.

I purchased one tube from the vet about a month ago and have been hesitating to use it. NOW I know why. Thank YOU Jesus!
In the past, one of the vets I used gave my cats pills to deworm. That worked just fine. I asked the present vet if they have pills because I would rather use those for my cats. They told me no, Profender is all they use.

Gee, I wonder why? After reading all of these comments, I am absolutely NOT going to put that junk on either of my cats ever. I am not going to take a chance of hurting them or killing them with that poison. Besides that, now…I am going to change vets as well.

I believe in NATURAL MEDICINE and know there is holistic vets who practice natural medicine on animals. The vet I have been going to does not practice that.

There is a book called “LOW COST NATURAL CURES FOR YOUR DOG AND CAT YOUR VET DOESN’T WANT YOU TO KNOW.”

It is written by Dr. John Heinerman and recommended by Joanne Stepfanatos, Past President of the American Holistic Veterinary Medical Association.

PLEASE SEE IF YOU CAN GET A COPY OF THIS BOOK AND TRY TO FIND A VET WHO PRACTICES THIS KIND OF MEDICINE.

I use Revolution on my cats to treat for fleas and it works fine.

To all those who have lost cats or watched your pets suffer, I feel such compassion for you and pray that the Lord Jesus Christ blesses you and heals your cats too.

I also had a bad experience today. My little Pywackett (PyPy) had been losing weight and had trouble with his eyes (one was infected we found out.) The vet (a new one our other vet reccomended) thought a possibility was a certain parasite, for which he sent home a tube of the Profender. It didn’t come in a box, nor with any papers, side effects etc.. am guessing they get them in bulk. Anyway, I was told to put the whole tube on between the shoulder blades like the flea meds i have used in the past, all at once. It was for 5.5-10 pound cats. My kitten is 11 months old, and about 6.5 pounds. After getting home, I did as I was instructed to do… put the eye drops in i had been given for him, and put the Profender on all at once as told to do. About 45 minutes later, Py was vomiting and foaming at the mouth! Thank God for this website! I was desperately trying to find out about side effects! There was no chance of reaching a vet as we live in North Dakota, in a very small town! About an hour from Bismarck! After reading some of these remarks I got very frightened! I washed as much ass I could off his skin/coat! gave him a packett of Whiska Purrfectly Fish he loves, and put extra water in with it so he would drink. That was about an hour ago. He is acting fine now, and is curled up at my guys feet on the bed, purring. Thank you so much for this site! I am going to call our vet tomorrow to let him know what happened! And will NEVER use it again! I just hope my little guy keeps doing ok!

My neighbor up the road told me both her cats died after putting Drontal on them and within two days. I had just purchased enough for my six cats and then did not use it. Quite an expensive purchase. So I held off. Now my older sort of immune sensitive cat has tapeworms. They gave me a packet of Profender. I am scared to use it after reading what I see here. I think I will go in and talk with her again and I am going to share this site. She is a very kind and loving vet and hope she will be impressed by what has been posted here. I am so very saddened to hear of your losses and in particular the little paralyzed cat. My thoughts and prayers go out to you all. Reading that one made me want to cry. I use a flea collar in my vacuum cleaner bag to keep the fleas that might get in there out. Guess I better stop doing that. I use Frontline Plus and have not had any bad effects with my six cats and four dogs. But I need something safe for tapeworms. Any ideas?

My 2 yr old healthy cat went in yesterday for routine shots. The vet applied profender and when I got home he was throwing up, diarrhea, and bloody stools with mucus. I took him back and they said to monitor him but I left that vet and went to a friend who is a vet an hour away and he said he never uses hartz products because of this reason. Too many side effects. Now my baby who was healthy a day ago is sverely sick. How are you supposed to trust any of these vets! Don’t they read up on the Medicines they are giving out.

My kitten has not gained weight in two weeks remaining at 2.5 pounds and has had persistent upper resp infection despite trying two different antibiotics. Even though her fecal tested negative as a precaution the vet is testing her for viruses and treated her with Profender. There have been no negative reactions in fact just the opposite. She must have had worms after all because she is suddenly gaining weight. I feel this product has been very beneficial but of course some animals will have a bad reaction. My sympathies to those who have had to deal with a bad reaction in their beloved furbaby.

We thought our cat was losing weight and she would throw up her dry catfood. She was in her early teens. Took her to vet for a checkup and rabies shot. We thought that perhaps she had worms although we really had not seen any. Vet said to remove her flea collar for 48 hours and then administer the topical Profender on back of head where she couldn’t lick it. We waited 3 days. Twenty-four hours afterwards, the cat fell down, had labored breathing and a bowel movement while laying there (no worms visible there). She never got up again and went through some convulsive episodes before dying that were dreadful.

It’s 1:30 in the morning and I applied Profender between my cat’s shoulder blades at around 9pm as instructed by the vet when I went in for a routine vaccine and was told to use this deworming Profender stuff. I was skeptical, but trusted the that the vet knew what she was talking about. About an hour after I put it on, my cat hid under some furniture and pooped, glued himself to the floor like a pancake, started shaking slightly, and his eyes dilated. I immediately washed it off. He has no health problems and he is almost three years old. Its the middle of the night, I’m scared and can’t wait till the morning to bring him to a different vet. He is hiding in the closet and I don’t know what to do.

It does seem that this thread is discussing several products…OTC and prescription. Plus, it seems some are confused as to what these meds treat. Profender requires a prescription. Although Profender does not treat fleas or tics, it does treat hookworm & roundworm as several of the topical flea preventatives do . It is the only topical med that I have found that treats tapeworms. Some of the flea preventative topicals may also contain a heartworm preventative. Profender only treats hookworm, roundworm & tapeworm. I agree with those who pointed out that all medication carries risks and side effects along with the benefit. This is also true of natural / holistic medicine. I’ve used Provender on 2 my 3 cats. I did have to seperate them so they couldn’t lick at each other. So far I have had good luck. I have not tried any of the Hartz products. I am saddened by the stories…it is awful when things go wrong and someone suffers…animal or human. I did want to mention that in the very young, elderly and sick, medication side effects become even more pronounced – animal or human. Here is a webpage with some info on Profender.

It is so, so sad to see all the product testing on these helpless cats and kittens! They intentionally gave the cats and kittens 10x the dose orally! I wish there was a safer and less brutal way to test out animal products and other products being tested for the open market. Very disturbing!

I would have to agree with the people who say that each medication effects each cat differently. I have used Profender on both of my cats, both less than a year old at the time, and I have had no problems with it as of yet.
I think the only complaint for me is that when you buy kitten packages at the vet, they give you all these samples (most of which I throw away) but they dont give you any instructions or information on the medicine itself. I asked the vet tech how often to put on and she said every month, thats not what the Bayer website said! Now that my cat does have tapeworms I treated her for it with the Profender. I sure do hope that works because my cat just had coccidia that I was treating.
We love our cats but boy can they be expensive.
My heart goes out to all those who have lost pets from any type of neglegence on the vets part. I have suffered that loss but not at the hands of medication, but at the hands of Banfield. Never ever ever take your animal to Banfield in Petsmart.

I used Profender (not a Hartz product) on two 4 mos. old, registered Maine Coon kittens approx. one month ago. A little more difficult to apply on long-haired cats. I believe all meds can have potential side effects. Test studies with possible reactions are included in Profender’s directions. Neither kitten had any adverse effects after application or in the days following application. Even though one of the kittens was able to lick an area where a small amount had run down the fur, there was no foaming at the mouth. I did separate them for 48 hours, so they wouldn’t play, tumble and lick each other. If I felt it was needed, I would use the product again.

I’ve used Profender from Bayer on four of my cats. Three had no adverse reactions at all. Late yesterday afternoon we used it on our beautiful, healthy 5 year old male cat. He seemed fine right after. We did not see any vomiting, foaming, agitation. This morning at 8:00 a.m. I found him laying partially paralyzed on the floor when I got up. We rushed him to our vet who said Profender would not have caused this. He was an inside/outside cat and she thought at first the paralysis was caused by a physical trauma like being hit by a car, but ruled that out. A blood test showed his kidneys were very damaged and his breathing was labored, but he seemed to have feeling in his limbs though unable to control them. Our vet advised that even with several days of fluid treatment his kidneys would probably fail afterward and after much debate and soul searching we reluctantly put our beautiful boy down. I don’t know what to think about the Profender. We did order an autopsy to try to find out if our cat was poisoned; the vet thought possibly antifreeze might have caused this. Perhaps we will know more after the lab results are back.

I just applied Profender three nights ago to my 6 month old kitten that weighs 5.5 lbs. I used the Orange tube for cats from 5.5 to 11 pounds. I applied it correctly (on the back of her neck at the base of her skull). Horror of horrors…

No bad reactions at all. Nothing. No drooling, no diarrhea, no twitches, no mood changes, nada.

Where the directions say to apply the product makes it absolutely impossible for the cat to lick it, believe me, my kitten tried. The package said not to allow the animal to lick or groom the area for an hour, which I made sure I did.

The comments on here make Bayer seem like an irresponsible company for putting Profender on the market. My guess is that, while some of the issues may be genuine, many of the issues described here are the result of irresponsible owners either applying other products at the same time (causing drug interactions) or incorrect application of Profender that allowed the cat to get the medication in their mouths.

I’m all for consumer input and watch dog groups but this group sounds suspiciously like a group out to discredit and harm the manufacturer of Profender (Bayer). Perhaps a few Hartz haters are confused and think Profender is made by Hartz so they jazz it up a little in their posts. I don’t know but there seems to be an unusual number of “reactions” for a medication that has been tested for years by both the manufacturer and Vets all over the world (literally). Forgive me for being suspicious but I’ve seen this kind of group attack on products before that were based on emotion and ulterior motives before and this smells similar.

After three days of watching my kitten carefully she shows no adverse reactions whatsoever to the application of Profender. I’ll be surprised if I see any reaction at all other than the elimination of worms.

I would just like to start this reply by saying, I am a very responsible pet owner and I have been privileged to have had my pets longer than most life expectancies. I had a wonderful cat (Roscoe) for 19yrs, and a beautiful husky (Coon) with a thyroid condition (which required 2 pills a day and a special diet food which he was on for 3yrs) that lived for 13yrs.
I follow vet instructions to the letter. My rag-doll/X cat (22lbs.) for his size was recommended to use one purple tube and one green tube, for over-sized cats. This dose would be equivalent to two and a half orange tubes.Two days later he is in the vet clinic fighting for his life. He has experienced hair lose at the site(which is at the base of his skull), temporary vision loss, nausea, dehydration, back leg paralysis and elevated liver levels.
Now he has been diagnosed with type 2 diabetes that was brought to severe levels from the usage of this medicine(we know that the diabetes was not caused by the drug but our vet has stated that the medicine brought out the symptoms severely). Our cat is in the emergency with insulin being injected every hour with hourly blood tests. They are treating the obvious right now but his liver levels are the most serious of his condition.We so far have had all expenses paid by Profender (Bayer). However, the cost to our cat might be his life, we will know in the morning. If I had ever known that this would have been the outcome from using this medication, my husband an I would have never used this drug. We will know tomorrow if he is to be euthanized. I can appreciate people expressing any emotion at a time like this. Our family members do include the furry kind.
I wish this for no one, so please be aware of the side effects for cats that have had previous liver problems. We had absolutely no information on this before the application and I am not harping or slandering this company. All I am doing is stating the truth and wanting to express my opinion to others so that they can make an informed decision.

I put Profender on all three of my cats (all are two years old and around 10 pouns) last night around 9:30 and they seem fine. They are a little bit sluggish but they also acted this way when they had their vaccines so I’m not too terribly worried. I also contacted their vet to make sure their sleepy behavior was normal and she said because they were sluggish after their vaccines they will be fine. One of them started licking where the medication was applied on one of my other cats (16 hours after applied) and the vet said their may be some foaming of the mouth as a reaction but nothing to worry about. I have used Profender once before and had no problems with it and I expect the same results this time, and no more worms!!

Why couldn’t I have found this website 4 days ago… “Pretty Girl” my 10 month old was losing weight and we believed she had worms. We purchased Profender from the vet and put it on her never dreaming that it would hurt her. Over the next 3 days she completely quit eating… I had to force feed her with a syringe of food that I prepared in a food processor. She wouldn’t drink either so I gave her syringes of water throughout the day. She became extremely lethargic and kept her paws tucked up under her all the time. My cousin, who takes care of my animals while I’m at work, found her lifeless in her crate yesterday morning and rushed her to the vet where they gave her IV fluids. Her body temperature had dropped to 4 degrees below normal and she started turning yellow on her ears, nose and paws. The vet said she had gotten into something toxic. NOw I believe that that SOMETHING TOXIC was the Profender. I had to bury my Pretty Girl today. I now I can’t help but feel like I’m the one that killed her by putting this garbage on her. Pet lovers beware. Do not use this product.

I have used Profender successfully on 4 cats with no side effects like those listed above. I found this website while researching Profender.

I am always careful to apply any topical treatment on the neck almost between the ears because i don’t want my cats to lick the treatment. The following information below is copied from Vetinfo.com
“Cats shouldn’t be allowed to lick the medication after it has been applied as it causes vomiting and drooling.
Temporary hair loss at the site of application occurs in some cats.
Profender spot on is dangerous if ingested.
It shouldn’t come in contact with the eyes as it causes excessive irritation.

Remember to keep your surroundings clean and vacuum your carpets regularly. Read package instructions carefully before starting a worm treatment on your pet and call the national animal poison control center immediately if you think that your pet has ingested the medication.”

I suggest you be very careful in the application if you are going to use it!

I am so grateful to have found this website today. A year ago, one of my cats went to the vet and during her stay, he said they found tapeworms so they administered Profender. I had never heard of it before, as only one other time one of my cats was treated with a simple, inexpensive pill. She was there overnight and into the next day, so if there was any reaction, I was unaware of it – her being a rather overweight cat might have helped also.

The Vet’s recommandation was that I administer it to the other four as well, since if one had it, they probably all had it. This was a new vet for me, and quite expensive so I said I would get back with him. As it turned out, my cat was still having the same symptoms that I’d taken her in for, so I took her to my long-time trusted vet 20 miles away. Turns out she has asthma, but that’s another story. While I was there, I asked their price for Profender and it was nearly half what the other vet charged, so I got 2 tubes for the smaller cats and 2 tubes for the other larger ones. I hate putting topicals on my cats, so they have sat in the original bag until today.

My dearest and most beloved angora cat has been losing weight and is always hungry. His blood work has been negative for diabetes or any other obvious problems, so I thought, “Maybe he has worms”. I was about to use the Profender on him (good until Jan 2013) but wanted to make sure I understood how to do it as I was only handed the 4 packages without the box, so there were no instructions or warnings to review.

There is no way that I will now take a chance on his life after reading everything here. I still have the receipt for the medication, and I plan to write to Bayer, asking for a refund of my cost. Not sure where it will get me, and I don’t think the vet should reimburse me for the meds, but I just don’t feel confident enough to administer this medication. Yes, I know everyone responds differently to medications, but this is too big a risk. Also, the fact that Bayer has assumed several of the vet bills mentioned here, indicates that they must know “something” that even the veterinarians may not know.

I just don’t trust the big drug companies. I feel like they have moved out of the test labs, and into the real test market, which is you, me and all animals. They offer discount coupons for outrageously expensive “new” medications, as long as we allow them to track our use of the medication and requests for feedback. I walked into my GP’s office and everything from pens, notepads, exam table covers to who knows what else were vividly displaying the name of the ‘medication du jour’ from the drug manufacturers.

I sat and watched as each drug peddler came in with one perk or another; i.e. the receptionist’s favorite latte – now how would they know that? I used to get free samples of a new drug, but now the drug companies can track us better by offering the discounts. Anyone feeling like a lab rat out there? I’m also seeing this display by the drug companies at my vet’s office, so this only adds to my fear and skepticism of what they may be peddling to our beloved pets.

I know I rambled, but these posts have really made the hair on the back of my neck stand up. I cried through the loss of each member who posted their sad story. I certainly learned something here today.

I have been using Profender since it came out. So far, I have not seen any adverse reactions to it. I do feral cat rescue (Trap/Neuter/Return) – as well as take strays into my sanctuary at home. However, I do not like using it, but I find that sometimes there is no option. Trying to syringe Strongid T into a feral cat is not my idea of a good time. If you read the scary instructions with Profender, and see that it`s not adviseable to touch the cat for 24 hours, etc. – you really have to wonder what kind of crap you are subjecting this poor unsuspecting animal to. God help the wee ones that were the guinea pigs for this stuff. My heart goes out to those who have had bad reactions, especially death. No animal deserves that. I do agree that Hartz products are the epitome of junk – out of desperation recently, I bought one of their flea collars while I was trying to get proper flea meds just to get the cat started. When I took it out of the new ($8.79) package, it practically disintegrated and fell apart in my hands.

I just wanted to add that Drontal is the safer alternative. It (like Profender) does treat worms, including tapeworm – something a more mild product such as Strongid T does not address. I would strongly advise against putting ANYTHING topical on a cat. This stuff is considered a parasiticide, and the Great Cat God only knows what is in there. I know Drontal is a fairly large tablet, and often has to be split into halves, so there is the double trauma for everyone concerned of getting it down the cats`throat – but that doesn`t necessarily have to be done five minutes apart. Depending on the weight of the cat, I have even had to administer 3 halves to the same cat, so they can be spaced out, as long as they are given on the same day. It is truly unfortunate that many of our beloved pets suffer while we are only trying to do what is best for them. One really has to wonder just how much testing is done to perfect these products in our money-grabbing world of veterinary medicine.

I would be interested to see how Catherine`s wee kitten is doing that went into paralysis the second time.

Yesterday January 12th 2012 my 11lb, 1 year old male cat Fiefel went to the vet for his annual check up. She gave him his boosters, along with profender. When he came home he seemed fine however. The next day we went walking and Fiefel was following us like normal. Suddenly,he collapsed and died on the spot. Fiefel had a slight heart mur mur, but he was extremely healthy and active before profender. I thought I was doing the right thing by taking him for his check up. I wish I never did.

I got the Profender yesterday from the vet and didnt use it that day because my Sami girl had gotten a rabies and distemper shot, Today I gave it to her and then thought to check out online if this stuff had any side effects,(the vet told me that it was harmless and would NOT have any side effects whats so ever!) Found this sight and immediately ran and washed the crap off of her, I’m still very shaken after reading about this garbage, It should be Black Boxed!! But as with many meds that are on the market today for humans, Dr’s keep giving them out!! It’s all about Money!!!

I had procrastinated in applying the Proline to my cat after his checkup at the vet. I felt relief when I accomplished the task tonight. Almost immediately he started running around which seemed unusual for him. I was worried because he began foaming at the mouth. I immediately got online and discovered this web site right away. I read a few posts and rushed him to the sink where I rinsed him off with water to try and remove the product. And now I am reading more posts, making me even more worried. This is the most favorite cat I have ever had and I will be so very sad if anything happens to him.

In February 2013, I rescued an approximately 51/2 year old cat from the local Humane Society. He was a gorgeous, black smoke colored, long haired cat whom I believed to be from the same litter as my other male cat, Stash, who I adopted from the Humane Society as a kitten. Both boys have the same unusual smoky coat and black “boots,” and could pass for twins.

As is custom, I took Jinx to the vet following his adoption. As he had been a stray, I was given Profender to treat any possible lingering worms. I didn’t get around to taking him to the vet until I had him for a month. During that month, he was healthy, happy and just a gorgeous boy with a beautiful coat. He had normal grooming and bathroom and eating habits. A few days after the vet visit, I applied the Profender per instruction. Jinx seemed fine and went about his kitty business.

Then…his hair started falling out in tufts. First, he lost his beautiful ruff. Then, the rest of his coat became thinner and thinner. Then, he started grooming himself excessively. I took a stool sample to the vet and was told he was clear of worms. I asked about his sudden hair loss following the dose of Profender. I was told it was a side effect, no big deal. His hair would grow back. I asked about the excessive grooming and was told he sounded stressed and they tried to sell me Feliway to “calm” his nerves. I declined. This same vet also tried to get me to subject Jinx to a teeth cleaning under anesthesia to the tune of a grand.

After a while, Jinx stopped grooming so much and his coat seemed to be starting to recover. Until a week ago…

Jinx was fine in the morning. He was out and playing with the other two boys as usual. When I came home in the evening, he did not come to the door and he was nowhere to be found. I finally located him in the basement, laying in a cat cube that he had never been in before. He wouldn’t eat or drink or leave the cube. When he did try to get up, he walked like he was drunk. In the morning, I found him still in the cube with his brother, Stash, lying near him as if watching over him. That’s when I knew he was really sick and so I took him to the vet.

The vet said he had a urinary blockage and would need to be cathed, his bladder drained and flushed. It was a medical emergency as if he couldn’t relieve himself, it would back up into his kidneys and he would die. when they checked his kidney values after draining his bladder they were very high, and not coming down…indicating that something had already damaged his kidneys.

It may seem like a stretch but, Jinx was the picture of health until I administered the Profender. His immediate hair loss was actually a sign of severe illness, not a temporary “side effect.” The severe illness was kidney failure caused by the damage to his kidneys which was caused by Profender. It just took a couple of months to get to the point where it affected his badder and urethra and there were more visible symptoms.

Rather than let him suffer through the kidney failure, we put Jinx to sleep on Monday afternoon.

I treated both of my Bengal cats (6.5 yr old and 8.5 yr old) with Profender a week ago. There were no obvious side effects (except of course the “Stay away from me. You just put cold liquid on the back of my neck, damnit!” attitude for a few minutes).

The vet’s were trying to push this stuff on me at last year’s visit too, but the boys were both considered very overweight at that time, and there was no indication that they had worms. Wouldn’t an internal parasite be likely to cause them to be underweight, or at least not overweight? The prescriptions were well over $20 each, in an 11 to 17 pound cat dosage. That stuff is still sitting in a mug on a bookshelf.

Still no indication of worms this year (and it didn’t occur to me to suggest evaluation of a stool sample) yet they still strongly push the treatment. I felt that it may be negligent of me not to apply the treatment since they are encouraging it so strongly – “The CDC recommends treatment 3 times per year.”; however, I wish that I would have researched online first. It turns out that I now feel negligent to have exposed them to such a risky treatment (when they more-than-likely don’t even need it). The fact that there is no discernable damage seven days later doesn’t mean that there isn’t any, or that there won’t be in the future.

The prescriptions from the vet prove to cost more than double the going rate. And they insist that I should expose my pets (who have no indication of worms) to this bizarre chemical annually! They also claim that they make the same salary regardless of whether they can sell me this (or the $250 to $900 per cat dental treatment that they are pushing for) or not. Is this not a pretty obvious con artist game going on here? Here’s the scary part: They insisted that I should apply Advantage to one of my cats (as his coat is thinning on his butt due to too much licking) but made no mention that it should not be applied at the same time as this other poison. Also, there is no indication whatsoever of fleas! Just their expert opinion that he must be hypersensitive to fleas and one must have bit him at some point in time, so nasty chemicals should be administered.

I believe that they are deliberately poisoning my animals so that they can rake in the money when their health fails. They are trying to expedite their receipt of $, not trying to help me keep my cats happy and healthy.

Fortunately, the boys got the 5.5 to 11 pound cat dosage this time. At least it was a lower dosage, and hopefully most of it got stuck in their hair instead of absorbed into their skin.

In the past 9 months, the 15 pound (6.5 year old) kitty went to 11 pounds, and the 12.2 pound (8.5 year old) went to 9.4 pounds. This is a result of transitioning them from Blue Buffalo (not as bad as Hills Science experiment) food to a raw diet, which I wish that I had figured out much sooner. They were raised for a few years on the breeder-recommended Hills Science experiment food, and barfed it up at least three times per week, plus developed allergies that caused them to lick their fur and skin off until puss oozed from them. Since the vet’s sell this ersatz excuse for nutrition, I told them that we’d switched to “wet food instead of crunchies”.

Unless your cats are living on mice and birds, please see feline-nutrition.org to learn about what cats need to stay healthy. My Bengals almost never barf anymore, whereas they used to barf about every-other-day, and they were overweight.

I’m French and live in France, few month ago, Eva my cat was poisoned by the profender, she was saved by our vet but unfortunately she passed away 4 months after, she stayed weak with sequelae. My English is not enough to explain the cause of her death but it was the heart, she had important cardiac complications and a kidney failure, the vet confirmed me it was the profender which killed her and the lab was informed, She was almost 14 years old. We learnt that Eva wasn’t alone, a lot cats and dogs are victims of this medicine. Profender is dangerous!

My vet gave me Profender but for some reason I felt uncomfortable about this drug. I looked at side affects and happened to find this site. I will not give this drug to my 2 cats. Thank you to everyone who has reported all the bad side affects there fur babies have experienced. I hope there all ok now and living healthy lives.

Yes I too put a hartz flea collar on my kitten first she refuse to let me get it on her when I eventually did it too about 3 mins before she started acting strange running around the house crazy looking like she wanted to go to sleep but would not look like she was drugged then I notice she was drooling at the mouth after that I knew it was the collar as soon as I took it of she slow started to get back to normal but was scrapping her back against the wall an on the carpet like she was itchy. She definitely would of died if I was not paying attention or just blew it off crazy

Many thanks to all of you for your reports. My big regret is that I’ve seen this site too late, after I had to euthanize my precious Hunnybun. He was feral and chose to spend 31/2 years with us and forgot all his feral ways. He was a heavy big boy and as he comes in and goes out at will, Profender was recommended to keep him worm free. He always acted lethargic, ran away for many hours and lost his huge appetite for a few days after Profender was administered. Because of this I hesitated to give him a dose and dosed him 6 weeks later than normal. The usual symptoms but this time he wobbled about for 4 days. Just as he seemed to pick up again and gain his movement and appetite, last night he ate his meal and was lying down when he started to make a strange noise. I petted him and he tried to move but just dragged his back legs as they seemed paralysed and could not jump on the sofa. (The vet knew he had a heart murmur). I took him to the Emergency vet who explained that his heart disease caused the thrombosis/embolism that paralysed him.I had to have my precious one euthanized. The vet insists that Profender did not cause it. I am not so sure and would not and could not recommend this wormer. I really wished I’d researched this before. It’s too late for me now.

I recently rescued a stray, male, Siamese kitten who’s estimated to be about 10 weeks old. The first vet visit he was a little over a pound and was given oral de-worming medication which he took with no problem or side affects. The second visit three weeks later he was almost five pounds and i was given PROFENDER to put on him which i did when i got home. Applying it didn’t go well, i put it on the skin between his shoulder blades but it ran straight down his side in a huge grease Mark. Then he started having bad runny poop. I gave him a bath and waited a couple days to see if it was just an upset stomach but he’s still having it! And its gotten so bad he can’t even hold it in, he’s just farting and has it streaming out. Going back to the vet first thing tomorrow and not using PROFENDER again.

I gave my 8 lb. cat who is about a year old profender today as recommended by a vet. After about a half hour she foamed at the mouth thick foamy drool that really freaked her out, she ran around, jumping like she was startled by something. Then about 2 hours after the dose was given she full on threw up, then seemed wobbly on her feet, slipping and almost tripping when she walked, then a little while later threw up again and then laid down by her water bowl with eyes half closed, not going to sleep or being active like she normally would. The good news is now she is eating and drinking but has stopped and gagged a couple times. I’m now waiting it out, really scared after reading all these other cases of possible toxicity. Damn medicine.

I gave my 12 year old cat Profender last year and immediately after applying it – he lost his voice. He didn’t make a sound for about four days – then his voice started coming back. I can’t remember any other symptoms. I think – I know- it was caused by the Profender.
I thought I would never get to hear him meow and talk to me again.

I applied Profender to my cats. If they do unintentionally ingest, as one of mine did, they will foam at the mouth and could cause vomiting. Definitely apply on the back of the neck where the cat cannot lick when grooming but they could still scratch the area and lick it of their feet. I immediately gave my cats canned food, to distract them, give it time to somewhat dry and also help my cat that licked it. I did find small clumps of fur for a few days. I did not see any bald spots at the site where applied or any other area that was balding but I do believe this is from application. Topical treatments need to be safer if accidentally ingested. You can’t stop a cat from licking/grooming. I am going to observe my cats to make sure there are no other issues after reading the other comments here.